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Mother 1 + 2
Mother 1 + 2 (MOTHER 1+2 Mazā Wan-Tsū) is a console role-playing game developed by Ape, Inc., Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance on June 20, 2003. It is a compilation of the first two installments of the ''Mother'' series, Mother and Mother 2: Gyiyg Strikes Back! (the latter known in North America as EarthBound). The game was meant to promote the upcoming Mother 3 (also for Game Boy Advance) as the rebirth of the franchise, and it has currently been released only in Japan. As it features two different games, its developer credits vary, but between both Mother and Mother 2, Shigesato Itoi acted as the designer and director, and music was composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. Mother tells the story of Ninten, a 12-year-old boy who journeys around the world using his psychic powers to collect eight melodies in order to save the planet from an evil race of mind-controlling aliens. Mother 2 tells the story of Ness, a young boy who journeys around the world also using psychic powers to collect eight melodies in order to save the future from an alien of pure evil, intending to sentence all of reality to the horror of eternal darkness. Development Mother was designed and directed by Japanese copywriter and television personality Shigesato Itoi. The game was named after John Lennon's song "Mother." Originally, the last parts of the game were not tested for bugs and balance issues. This issue was corrected for the Mother 1 + 2 release. Development on Mother 2 took place as a joint effort between Ape, Inc. and HAL Laboratory, Inc. and was again designed by Shigesato Itoi. The total development time for the project was five years, much longer than was initially expected. Because two companies were working on Mother 2, responsibilities were spread out between the two studios. Ape had more people working on the title and oversaw the data aspects of the game while HAL worked on the programming. Because the two studios were based at separate locations, employees would regularly have to travel between the studios to work. A direct sequel to Mother 2 would later enter the development stages, where it remained for many years before being canceled on August 21, 2000. Three years later, the project began being reworked into a third installment, Mother 3. Around this time, the first two titles received improvements for their forthcoming re-release on the Game Boy Advance, to promote Mother 3. Released on June 20, 2003 by Nintendo, a bonus cell-phone strap of Mr. Saturn was included for pre-ordered packages of the game. Though the strap was originally intended only for those who had pre-ordered the game, its popularity caused it to be sold briefly on Amazon in Japan. A cost-reduced version of the game was later released for around 2,600 yen, which was packaged with a Club Nintendo serial card. Mother 1 + 2 sold over 250,000 copies, and the reduced-value version has sold an additional 60,000 copies. Though the port was only released in Japan, the versions of Mother and Mother 2 included in Mother 1 + 2 are actually re-translations of the English versions of the games even though somewhat ironically, Mother never had a proper English release. The name of the company that directed the port and re-translation has never been announced by Nintendo. Marketing Though the concept of Mother 1 + 2 was to compile two separate games into one easily accessible package, promotion focused entirely on Mother 2 (known in North America as EarthBound), much to the dismay of long-time fans, who argued that the promotional strategy was reducing the importance of the first game. Differences from Mother and Mother 2 Numerous changes from the original versions were incorporated into Mother 1 + 2. Changes in Mother related to in-game events, graphics and items are mostly identical to the changes made in the English prototype, Earth Bound. ''Mother'' *The screen animates when you learn a melody. *The order you learn PSI in is different. *Your dad doesn't tell you to hold reset when you shut off the game. The GBA doesn't require this, so it was taken out. *The L-button the GBA acts like the L-button does in the SNES Mother 2/EarthBound. *The game can be put into sleep mode, just like most other GBA games. *You don't walk in single-tile increments anymore; movement is more fluid like in Mother 2/EarthBound. *You can run with the R button. But unlike EB0, the entire game doesn't speed up when you dash. *There's a mosaic effect when you enter a battle. *There's no "Map" item. It's missing from EB0 too. *You can change battle text speed. *When you check an enemy, you get also get a 1-line comment about that enemy now. *SMAAAASH!! is always displayed in green. In the Famicom version it would be one of several colors. *Enemy and ally attack sounds are mixed up. Could be a mistake. *The text itself changes color when your status changes. Before the color around the text would change while the text itself would remain the same color. *Enemy enounter rate seems to be much higher. The old trick where you could open the menu often to avoid enemies doesn't work anymore. *The old strip club is changed to a different kind of shop. *"Repel Ring" has been added. *The underground path beneath Magicant is completely different. But it's the same as it is in EB0. *You can withdraw money from Queen Mary's spring. This was in EB0, however. *The "Friendship Ring" is gone. It was gone in EB0 as well. *The Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior) reference was replaced with "that game". *Using "Check" in the field will tell you if you might be attacked or not. Useful since it's not exactly clear where town boundaries end. *Crosses were replaced with simple gravestones, etc. These changes were first seen in EarthBound Zero. *The crows don't have cigarettes. This change was made when EB0 was first localized. *The Shroudly doesn't have blood dripping from it's hand, which was also in EB0. *The Gang/Nasty Zombies don't have blood, but have a tie, also in EB0. *Dr. Distorto doesn't have blood on his coat, which also was in EB0. *Enemies appear in the tunnels. This was in EB0. *Ana is put into character slot #2, moving Loid (who was there first) to slot #3. *Teleportation time is a little longer, but the speed is a little slower. *The screen scrolls when you're sucked into the whirlpool. Possibly because of limited screen size. *A short scene showing everyone escape from Eve's factory was added. *After you get Eve's melody, you also get a "Memory Chip". It's a useful item that will instantly take you back to Eve. *The BB (blah blah) gang's boss doesn't hold a knife. *The Flea Bag doesn't work on enemies like R7038. *The healer restores your HP. He does this too in EB0. *After collecting the 7th melody you have to go back to Queen Mary yourself. In the Famicom version you were instantly taken to her, but in EB0 you had to go yourself. *The philosopher's song is a Japanese translation of what he says in EB0. *Giegue's attack sound is a little bit off. *"Run" is replaced by "Sing" late in the game. The blank spot was taken by "Settings" so something had to be replaced. *An extra area was added right before the final battle. *The ending is completely different. It's the same as EarthBound Zero's ending ''Mother 2'' * The Rock Candy/condiment glitch has been removed. *In Burglin Park, a person talks about flies landing on the food and making it tastier. The text here was altered very slightly in the GBA version. *You can't use the Exit Mouse in the Cave of the Past in the GBA port. This was a bug in the SFC version and apparently fixed in EarthBound. *The Shattered Men in the Summers Museum disappear after you beat Giygas. In the original games, they would still be there if you avoided them earlier on. The game would also mess up if you died against them after beating Giygas. Reception Despite the enduring popularity of the ''Mother '' series, Mother 1 + 2 was not well received by fans and critics, and it remains a lowly-regarded part of the franchise. Sales The reduced quality of background music and the odd changes made in game-text led to sharp criticism, combined with the fact that Nintendo refused to disclose the name of the company that re-translated and ported the two games. Sales declined sharply after the initial release, and Mother 1 + 2 has the worst sales record in the entire series, selling less than the previous-worst 300,000 mark set by Mother 2 (though the game has sold over 300,000 copies if combined with the sales of the "value selection" release). Music Mother 1 + 2's soundtrack was was composed by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka. It was released on compact disc in 2003. It consists of different arrangements of the original songs, but its title mislead some purchasers into believing that it was a re-release of the original ''Mother'' soundtrack. Like the game itself, the soundtrack was not well received by fans because of the low quality of the arrangements, and the fact that the CD jacket contained numerous errors concerning the song titles. However, its release led to renewed calls for the re-release of the Mother soundtrack, and a "re-mastered version" of the Mother soundtrack followed on February 18, 2004. Suzuki has cited John Lennon as an influential figure to the composers, when composing the original songs from both games. External links * Official website Category:EarthBound Category:Games developed by HAL Laboratory Category:Japan exclusive video games Category:Mother Category:Mother games Category:Nintendo games